They improve sustainability, efficiency and performance. Today’s materials enable new standards in component design and manufacture. This is confirmed by the experience of the Sabaf Group.
Product innovation starts with design and before that with materials research. They are often the protagonists when it comes to exploring new avenues to achieve next-generation components. In this way, materials become the decisive asset to bring something original and value-added to the market.
The Sabaf Group is well aware of this, ready to explore new avenues, punctually listening to the actual needs of the market, even when it comes to component design and production. «Sabaf today considers it essential to listen to the customer’s needs, translate them into technical language and then find the best solution in terms of feasibility and industrial costs», comments Luca Pasquini, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer Sabaf Group. «Listening is the crucial moment: you listen to the customer by starting from the outset to imagine what kind of value Sabaf can offer the customer and, in turn, what kind of value the customer can offer the end consumer. If an overlap of values can be found while respecting feasibility and costs, then a design and industrialisation phase of the component can be initiated, a phase in which Sabaf has reached a point of maturity resulting from decades of experience».
In this direction, evaluating the use of new materials means aligning with a market whose needs are constantly evolving and full of new challenges. A decisive choice for every company, especially today in the era of digital and ecological transformation. «Materials research is a discipline of great importance because new materials determine new ways of designing, producing and even living, generating a great impact on society», Pasquini notes. «The buzzword of our times is “sustainability”, in its most holistic sense. It is not only about using new eco-friendly materials – I am talking about plant-based raw materials rather than partially or totally recycled materials – but also about thinking about how and where these materials are produced. Is it sustainable production? Currently, the most promising and interesting materials are those that can follow the basic rules of efficiency and safety. Our customers are very much aware of these topics, as are the new generation of end consumers. Reliability, under the umbrella of sustainability and understood as the long life of the component, is undoubtedly an increasingly topical challenge. One of the certainly recognised values for Sabaf is the high quality and reliability of its products over time. The new materials of the near future will have to be positioned along these directions».
The goal is sustainability
In this regard, Sabaf today is very attentive to evaluating the opportunities of certain specific types of materials, with the aim of designing and manufacturing increasingly sustainable components. «Sabaf has recently started a programme to optimise the percentage of recycled material», says Pasquini. «With regard to the production of aluminium components, today waste is close to zero. Furthermore, to reduce the use of raw materials as much as possible in the development phase of new products, prototypes are made with 3D printing and the performance of manufacturability and functionality is optimised with increasingly advanced simulation software. But that’s not all: prototypes are produced within ultra-high-precision working islands in order to confirm the 3Fs of Fit-Form-Function, i.e. manufacturability, aesthetic appearance, functionality. Additive manufacturing is a viable solution for prototyping but also for limited series production. The evolution of additive manufacturing is driven by innovative materials that offer excellent mechanical, thermal and chemical properties, paving the way for new industrial applications. The materials available for additive manufacturing vary in properties and physical state, ranging from plastics to metals and biomaterials».
The use of such new materials also leads Sabaf to renew its approach to component design and production. «In general, having the courage to focus on innovative and more sustainable materials leads any company to focus on the ratio of benefit to cost», Pasquini continues. «One must try to bring value-added innovation that justifies the higher cost of sustainable material. With this in mind, it is important to broaden the scope of the components supplied to the customer, trying to propose the supply of a sub-system of the final product that the customer then offers to consumers. The combination of mechanics and electronics, which the Sabaf Group can offer, represents a ‘win-win’ opportunity for supplier and customer. Mechatronics opens up design scenarios for systems sold as higher value-added components. As is already the case in the automotive sector, the supplier base in the household appliance sector will consolidate towards this type of supplier».
Thanks to new materials, it is also possible to arrive at more energy-efficient components and finished products. «With a view to environmental sustainability and reducing the use of raw materials of fossil origin, the development of new components will certainly have to be guided by a greater focus on the use of energy for the production of the component and the energy impact that the use of the component implies», hopes Pasquini.
Next steps
Already today, Sabaf can bring the concrete example of a few components already manufactured with the new materials, allowing the market to experience first-hand the advantages provided by the finished product. «In the field of additive manufacturing, plastic materials are the most widely used», the manager points out. «Here is an example: polycarbonate (PC) is the core of mechanical components and cars. Sabaf has recently introduced such a material to create a mechanical interface – lightweight, durable and reliable – between two existing components. A second example concerns nanotechnology: thanks to the collaboration with a specialised supplier, Sabaf was able to develop a product coated with nano-coating. This coating allows the product to offer value in terms of resistance to heat and the aggression of normally staining chemicals. In other words, better performance and a longer life for our products».
On this basis, the future of the market is as promising as ever, with new materials about to be used in the design and manufacture of a new generation of components, with the promise of introducing even more new functionalities. «Sabaf wants to identify materials that can improve the benefit/cost ratio that current components offer, always within the framework of sustainability. The material change is certainly a lever to work on. The main challenge will be the resistance of the new material to high temperatures. Superpolymers’ are emerging as a class of advanced materials with outstanding mechanical and physical properties. Take for example PEEK, known for its ability to withstand high temperatures (up to 250-300°), its hardness, rigidity and dimensional stability. This material is used today in sectors requiring high-performance components such as pumps and gears. Its possible evolution towards slightly higher temperatures could also make it appropriate for the household appliance sector, especially gas cooking», Pasquini concludes.
